Before she could react, Xiang Zhile was struck at her acupuncture points and angrily carried back to the bridal chamber.
“Xiang Zhile, do you really like Yan Beimo that much? So much that you would pretend to go along with me just to do that?”
Without a shred of pity, he threw her onto the bed. Yan Junnuo asked coldly, voicing the words he had long wanted to say.
Sure enough, everything from last night was fake.
If she couldn’t accept him now, he could wait.
But he couldn’t bear the thought that she had been deceiving him just to be with another man, even going so far as to degrade herself like this.
The mere idea that her tender gaze would one day be directed at another man—even if that man was his nephew—filled him with an uncontrollable urge to kill.
“No, I didn’t,” Xiang Zhile hurriedly explained. “Yesterday was mainly because of your health…”
Hearing this, Yan Junnuo couldn’t help but lean in closer, letting out a cold laugh. “How was my condition, my consort? You felt it yourself, didn’t you?”
“But… but…” You had a stomach ailment afterward.
Xiang Zhile wanted to tell him the truth and make him face reality, but seeing his icy expression, she instantly lost her nerve.
“No need to explain. I won’t listen.”
The cold, rigid back was right before her, and Xiang Zhile had never felt such a strong urge to step forward and embrace him.
Seeing that explanations were getting her nowhere, she quickly switched to an expression no man could resist, crying pitifully as she turned the tables on him.
“Yan Junnuo, you heartless man! Just tell me, are you planning to abandon me after having your way? Now that you’ve consummated the marriage, you find me boring and want to look for someone else?”
“I did not,” Yan Junnuo replied without hesitation, immediately turning back to meet her gaze with earnest eyes.
Xiang Zhile secretly smiled to herself, tears streaming down her face as if they cost nothing. Feigning grievance, she rambled on, “You say you didn’t? You liar. When you saw me running in the manor, you struck my acupuncture points. It must be because you’ve hidden ten or eight concubines here and were afraid I’d catch you in the act…”
“I did not,” Yan Junnuo snapped coldly.
Couldn’t this woman think better of him for once?
Startled by his low, sharp tone, Xiang Zhile, who had been quietly sobbing, suddenly burst into loud, childlike wails.
Seeing her cry even harder, Yan Junnuo grew flustered, unsure whether to release her acupuncture points first or wipe the tears from her face.
He could only stand there helplessly, softening his tone. “You… listen to me… I’m not, I didn’t… You… you’re my first woman…”
As soon as the words left his mouth, silence fell around Yan Junnuo.
The foolish woman who had been wailing just moments ago now had a sly glint in her eyes, her delicate cherry lips curving into a charming smile.
“Then come over here and release my acupuncture points. If you do, I’ll believe you.”
So, after all this fuss, it was still about that.
Yan Junnuo’s heart, which had been hanging in the air, instantly sank halfway.
But what could he do?
Seeing her cry like this, his heart still ached uncontrollably.
He sighed helplessly and stepped forward to release her acupuncture points.
Just as he was about to turn and leave again, Xiang Zhile clung to his back like an octopus.
“Junnuo.”
A soft, seemingly helpless yet tender whisper reached his ears, and Yan Junnuo froze in place.
Sensing his unease, Xiang Zhile’s heart ached slightly. She wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, burying her face in the crook of his shoulder, her breath as gentle as orchid fragrance.
“My heart belongs to you. Give me time to prove it, alright?”
Yan Junnuo’s body stiffened slightly, thinking he had misheard.
After a long moment passed without hearing Xiang Zhile continue, he finally asked in a hoarse voice, “How much time do you need? How will you prove it?”
Seeing him relent, Xiang Zhile immediately perked up.
Like a monkey hanging from a tree, using his neck as leverage, she gradually shifted from his back to his front, wrapping her legs around his waist to meet his gaze seriously.
“How much time can you give me? How would you like me to prove it?”
Yan Junnuo hardly dared to breathe, afraid he was dreaming and that breathing too heavily would wake him.
A drop of cold sweat slid from his bobbing Adam’s apple down to his collarbone.
His usually pale complexion now seemed tinged with pink.
Xiang Zhile chuckled inwardly, mustering her courage to pucker her lips and press them against his thin ones with a soft “mwah.”
“Like this, once every morning, alright?”
Yan Junnuo felt a surge of blood rush from his feet to the crown of his head.
He nodded stiffly.
Xiang Zhile repeated the gesture, planting a “mwah” on his left cheek and then his right.
“And like this, once every night before bed, alright?”
Yan Junnuo nodded stiffly again.
“Remember, it has to be every day. Missing even one day means it’s not every day,” Xiang Zhile emphasized.
Hearing this, Yan Junnuo immediately met her gaze, his eyes filled with surprise, delight, but mostly… confusion.
Confusion over her sudden change.
As if oblivious to his bewilderment, Xiang Zhile hopped to the ground, cupped his face, and gave him a gentle smile.
“Junnuo, let time and my actions prove everything. I’ll give you enough sense of security.”
Only then did Yan Junnuo realize that Xiang Zhile had even changed how she addressed him, and he himself felt like a fool, completely defenseless against her honey trap.
Remembering her abrupt transformation last night, he suddenly pushed her away with force and fled in panic.
Watching his retreating figure, Xiang Zhile felt a wave of disappointment wash over her.